Digital Signatures - How to confirm they are genuine

Hi Andrew

Thanks for your question.

When someone adds their digital signature to an Excel document, Microsoft automatically creates a signing certificate which proves identity.

To view the signing certificate in a document which has been sent to you - double click on the signature, then click the View button. Here you can see the unique certificate code, and date and time stamp.

Microsoft provides the following assurances with its digital signatures:

Authenticity - The signer is confirmed as the signer.

Integrity - The content has not been changed or tampered with since it was digitally signed.

Non-repudiation - Proves to all parties the origin of the signed content. Repudiation refers to the act of a signer denying any association with the signed content.

Notarization - Signatures in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft PowerPoint files, which are time stamped by a secure time-stamp server, under certain circumstances, have the validity of a notarization.

Hopefully this answers your question. Please let us know if you have any further queries.

Kind Regards,
Sarah
Microsoft Office Trainer